Syrian minister says U.N. aid chief's comments "absolutely unacceptable"

Valerie Amos, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, gestures as she speaks during a news conference in Juba, January 29, 2014. REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu/Files

GENEVA (Reuters) - Syria's government is doing its best to improve humanitarian aid access, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said on Friday, a day after United Nations aid chief Valerie Amos urged the U.N. Security Council to act to improve access. "While we have done our best and will continue to do our best, I think some of her statements were absolutely unacceptable," Mekdad told a news conference in Geneva. "Mrs Amos, in many of her statements does not recognise that there is terrorism in Syria and there are terrorist organisations which are hindering the movement of goods and humanitarian assistance to many parts of Syria in addition to ignoring very important places where the assistance should go." (Reporting by Tom Miles, editing by Oliver Holmes)